The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a coaxial connector. More specifically, the subject matter relates to a coaxial connector requiring a low insertion/extraction force designed to withstand a high number of mating cycles.
As is known to those skilled in the art, coaxial cables are electrical conductors configured to conduct high frequency electrical signals. Typically, a coaxial cable includes a central conductor carrying the high frequency signal about which an insulating layer, a ground shield, typically of braided, metallic construction, and an outer jacket that encloses the entire cable are sequentially wrapped. Coaxial cables are used in many applications requiring the ability to removably connect the cable to a piece of equipment, for example, cable television, electronic test equipment, and medical imaging.
An exemplary application that utilizes coaxial cables is a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system. An MRI system requires transmission of high frequency resonance signals between imaging coils and the MRI scanner. The imaging coils typically include multiple channels, each channel transmitting a signal along a separate coaxial cable. It is desirable to include each of the signals from the multiple channels on a single connector. Consequently, multiple coaxial cables are typically connected using a single, gang connector. Because the insertion and extraction force required for a gang connector is proportional to the number of coaxial cables being connected by the gang connector, it would be desirable for the individual coaxial connectors used in the gang connector to require a low insertion/extraction force. In addition, the imaging coils are typically customized for the anatomical region being imaged. Consequently, individual coils are frequently connected to and disconnected from the MRI scanner. It would, therefore, also be desirable to have a coaxial connector rated for a high number of mating cycles.